A villain after her own heart
by Midsully
Summary: Sometimes the lives of heroes and villains is more complicated than even they know
1. 1

Astrid Hofferson, or Deadly Nadder as the people of Dragon's Edge knew her, sat alone on the roof of tall building overlooking the ocean.

This had been their spot.

A year and half ago this whole thing started, fifteen months ago she was on the road to being blissfully in love, and two months ago it all went wrong thanks to one glory hound. And here she was still waiting for a few hours everyday for him to miraculously show back up.

Sometimes she wished she never fell in love with a super villain.

It all started like any other day in the life of a super hero: She did her patrols, stopped a few petty crimes, and rolled her eyes when her self proclaimed nemesis popped up for his weekly beating.

Night Fury was a gadgeteer: an ordinary human that use advanced technology to level the playing field against supers, his favorite toy was his pair of pitch black gloves that conducted a plasma based flame that he used in hand to hand combat. Granted he never managed to seriously hurt Astrid but he got a few good hits and burns over the three years they'd been fighting. He was an anomaly among villains in that his plans always had the potential to cause great harm, but they were always foiled relatively easily; and when she beat him or stopped his plans he was never upset, almost like he was just in it for the fun. A theory that was supported by his inane proficiency at escaping any detainment method she tried on him, she'd restrain him in different ways then turn to check on the civilians that had been in trouble and when she turned back around he'd be gone. The civilians were another example of his oddity as a villain as they were always surprisingly complimentary of him after being held captive, sharing stories of him providing both snacks drinks while they were being held hostage; one time a man was even allowed to call his boss and explain why he wouldn't be in to work that day, and a pregnant woman had been released safely at the hospital when her water broke. What kind of villain did that?

However on this one particular day eighteen months ago he pulled a new stunt, having several civilians held hostage in a building with a repurposed demolition implosion device under their feet. His demands were simple, he and her fight, no powers, one on one and if she had any other supers try to canvas for the bomb he'd set off others that were strategically placed around the district. Needless to say he had her in a bind in terms of finding the bombs so she had agreed, even let him place a stolen dampening cuff on her to suppress her ability to generate and fire spikes from her forearms. The fight lasted much longer than she expected, he agreed to reveal the civilians location if she beat him but she had to agree to do one thing of his choosing(he had a signed and notarized statement that it would be nothing inappropriate ready to show for her). He appeared to have been training, either that or he'd lost all those times to study and memorize her fight patterns, and he was giving as good as he got; for a moment he even had Nadder pinned and could have won but he declared he needed to take a moment and enjoy the feeling of beating her. She used that moment to get free and turn the tables, forcing him back on the defensive while she planned out how she was going to win. Strategy was never her forte, but it was definitely his, she had seen the reports of times he'd teamed with Hunter-mind and worked other heroes to the limits of their capabilities through cunning tricks and traps. She knew he was smart enough to pull any number of tricks, so the young hero hoped her employing more tactical strategy would catch him of guard.

Turned out it did, but he lost on a technicality by tripping over a rock and wound up being pinned down without mercy. The villain pouted but honored his agreement, removing the suppression cuff and giving her a slip of paper with the address and floors where the bomb and hostages were located; of course when she got there the civilians had no clue they were in any danger and had in fact been throwing a birthday party for one of them curtesy of an anonymous benefactor(Deadly Nadder had rolled her eyes, at least he was consistent). After that the only thing left were the other bombs which Night Fury conveniently forgot to disclose the locations of, Astrid face palmed herself when she realized that; so she coordinated with local police and laid out a search grid. She ended up stationed waiting on the roof across the street from the one they did have in case anything went wrong while EOD worked to diffuse it.

While she was doing this a water bottle tapped her shoulder. Smirking to herself she took it without hesitation thinking her former partner Heather, or Razorwhip, was checking up on her; not an uncommon occurrence after they went their separate ways so she could watch over her reformed villain brother. However when Nadder turned around she was mask to mask with Night Fury, he assured her that the water was safe and even provided a receipt for it to assuage her concerns. "I just wanted to talk. Three years of fighting and I have no other motivation to fight you other than you're a hero." He'd told her as he sat beside her and took a long pull from his own bottled water, Astrid narrowed her eyes and kept her guard up expecting a trap; Night Fury didn't entirely disappoint. With a sigh he pulled a small grey device with a single green button on it, "Either we can sit here and talk like two adults, or I can press this and all the bombs go boom." With fists clenched the heroine agreed again to his terms.

And before she knew it the sun had set and she hadn't even noticed. She had actually enjoyed the talk, nothing serious had been disclosed, mostly irritations with other heroes/villains and always subbing their real names with their super monikers; but she had actually laughed for the first time in years. She hadn't even realized how how much of a toll hero work took on her social life until a villain literally trapped her into conversation. As this thought occurred to her, Fury stood and stretched his back, causing it to pop a few times. "Well I'd say that was an effective way to spend some time. Let's do it again sometime... without the need for me to make empty threats." He stated as he tossed the small device to her, she caught it revealing that it was a garage opener... without batteries.

"Wait!" She had shouted as he walked toward the other side of the roof, "What about the other bombs? Where are they?"

Night Fury stopped and scratched the back of his head, "Oh... right... Yeah they don't exist, that was just a bluff to get you to agree to the fight. Sorry about that. Also those EOD guys can pack up and go home, that implosion device is a dud." The man said quickly before leaping off the side of the building. Looking back Astrid couldn't blame him as she was understandably annoyed with the revelation.

That first encounter soon became routine oddly enough. Night Fury would show up with some crazy plan or another that was foiled easier than usual and afterwards they met on the roof of the building Astrid was currently sitting on and talk while enjoying the sunset over the sea. The second time he'd brought ice cream, their chat had veered into childhoods again never using their real names, over the course of the next three months they became close... it was after another fight where he showed up after with a pizza(pepperoni and bacon, her favorite) that she kissed him.

That's when things became complicated... Traditional dating was out of the question, neither knew the other's secret identity and they couldn't well be seen in public as a couple in full costume and masks. So they compromised, Night Fury often picked up something nice that they could eat on what had become their spot and she would bring a blanket and sometimes candles, Night Fury even cooked for her every now and again. Their relationship moved faster than most due to the secrecy required, and it reflected in her civilian life. Heather noticed her newfound happiness and was eager to dig into her best friends love life, taking great pleasure in making up ridiculous scenarios when Astrid said she just wanted to have her boyfriend just to herself for awhile. Even now she found it humorous that Heather probably found it more acceptable for her to be having a torrid love affair with a married man or government official than she would the reality that she was involved with a villain.

After several dinner dates Night Fury came up with a crazy plan that Nadder couldn't help but laugh at yet still go along with, and so they donned trench coats and fedoras to attend a movie they both wanted to see and had their first real date in public, all the while looking like the teenage mutant ninja turtles trying to disguise themselves. It pushed them in a new bolder direction, Night Fury started openly flirting with her during their 'fights' he even admitted after one that they were just his excuse to see her at that point. In one standout situation he was working with Hunter-mind while she was helping Razorwhip and both of the other parties had noticed, Astrid hadn't even realized that she'd been flirting back until afterwards when Heather stated they been acting like a reverse Batman Catwoman and how she was tempted to tell them to just bang already.

Little did her friend know the repercussions that comment would have. They'd been together for nearly five months at that point and more than once had things gotten heated on their little patch of rooftop, naturally only knowing each other's super identity made any kind of coupling a tricky matter; her home in the Village of Heroes wasn't an option and his lair wasn't exactly the most secure place since there were other villains that had free access, so they had to get creative. Fury made special encrypted messaging devices(they were modified beepers) and she rented a very nice hotel room with a balcony that he later climbed in through. Over the next three days Deadly Nadder wasn't seen for her patrols and there was a report of a concerned villain named Treacherous A going around Dragon's Edge asking civilians if they'd seen Night Fury; complete with missing posters. The pair had a good laugh about it, but Astrid could tell that despite the enjoyable new development in their relationship that Night Fury was disappointed that they had kept their masks on for the entirety of their impromptu holiday.

To his credit the man never pushed her to reveal herself to him, he was respectful of anything she wasn't comfortable with, only ever giving her a small prod on things she was on the fence about; usually ending with her giving in. But revealing her identity to a villain? Even if they were in a relationship and had recently become lovers that was a tall order, even more so than the physical aspect as it required absolute trust that he would never use it against her. And sadly she couldn't say that just yet, he was still engaged in villainous behavior, even if it was just to free her up for a date; he was still in close contact with several big players in the villain life. The leader of the Heroes simply known as The Chief, had intel that said Fury had connections to Drago Bludvist; a man he'd been hunting for over two decades after the madman had killed his wife; rumor had it that his dogged pursuit had even destroyed his relationship with his son. So could she as Deadly Nadder take that chance?

She did her best to express these thoughts to her boyfriend when he inquired about the possibility a few months later, it ended with him leaving rather upset and her choking back some tears as he did. After that he didn't show up for several weeks, and on her patrols Deadly Nadder was less lenient with the petty criminals, many being found by the police pinned by their clothes upside down with a broken bone or two. When he did finally show up again it was mostly like before their romance had begun, he was quiet during the fight and didn't respond to her attempts at flirting; and when he was beaten he simply vanished before she could quietly plead him to meet with her at their spot. She took the chance and went there regardless and when she saw his tall lanky frame in the setting sun she swore that breath had never felt better in her lungs than in that moment.

Despite the relief of him being there the issue was not resolved, that much was clear when she stood beside him and he continued to stare out over the bit of ocean they'd claimed as their own when they met here. Astrid knew this had the potential to tear them apart and the very thought was more painful then any blow she'd received from supervillain's over her tenure as a hero, she had to make it right. "Close your eyes for me." Night Fury said suddenly, causing her to jump a bit, she gave him an odd look which he cocked an eyebrow at; she closed her eyes. "Now give me your hands for a second." He spoke again after a brief pause, this request she had no qualms with as she slid her smaller hands into his.

He gently held them palm up in his hand as he lifted them up, before she could ask what he was doing she felt his cheeks in her hands. He guided them further up and she was surprised to feel nothing but skin, his mask covered everything above his nose so when she felt his closed eyes her mind was of two voices arguing over the opening of her eyes. Of her own accord she moved her hands higher, feeling strands of hair that she only caught glimpses of during their trysts in hotel rooms; she took full advantage of running her hands through it. Alas all good things come to an end as she felt him tug the mask back into place, her arms dropping back to her sides and eyes opening moments later when he let her know his mask was back in place.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, after last time when he'd left in anger she was actually afraid he might end things, especially with how he'd been acting during the 'business fight' they'd just had.

"Because I want you to know who I am. And I understand that you have your reservations, the very rumor of you and me could get you tossed out of the hero community; but I think what we have is worth that risk, and even sacrifice if it comes to it..." Night Fury turned back to the ocean again as the sun finished setting. "I'm not going to attack again for a month. That time will be for you, think over all this..." he indicated the space between the two of them, "If you feel the same way then I'll be waiting here, with my mask off. And if you can trust me with who you really are under yours then I'll leave the entire super life behind, my only connection to it being you. If not... well then I'll know what's most important to you." Both looked at the gravel roof under their feet at the implication. "I'm in love you Nadder, and I want to share more than just a part of my life with you for a few hours either here or in some soulless hotel room, I'm not asking you to leave the hero life and I never will, but I can't go on with just this small portion of your life. I'm willing to give you mine if you'll do the same." He'd taken her hands again at some point, she couldn't have guessed when she'd been too absorbed in his emerald green eyes during the declaration of love. "Take your time and think about it, I promise I'll respect whatever decision you make; and either way my time as your villain will be over." With that he placed a lingering kiss on her cheek and left silently.

———————

The next day she spilled everything to Heather. Her friend took it well all things considered, she was only frozen in shock for fifteen minutes before her brain jump started and her surprised shout of "WHAAAAAA!!!!" only drew the attention of everyone in the bakery they were in. Astrid decided it was best they get their pastries to go.

Upon returning to Heather's apartment in Berserk, Astrid took her time and explained the process of her relationship with Night Fury and how they'd kept it secret for over a year. Her bestie of course didn't need to be told where Astrid was those three days she had gone missing, or why she was taking it easy in her workouts for a couple days afterwards; always trust her best friend to focus on the fact she was getting laid.

Finally the blonde reached their 'argument' and the choice she'd been given. "Well Ast, I cant tell you what to do here; you either love this guy enough or you don't." Heather said in an uncharacteristic display serious thought. "But if you want my two cents I'd say go for it. You've been so much happier this past year and while I'm not thrilled you've been secretly banging a villain for at least half of it; if he makes you genuinely happy then nothing else really matters. Being a hero is great and all, but honestly I don't think I'd still be doing it if I didn't have Dagur to come home to at the end of the day. He's a former villain and may be an idiot a lot of the time, but he's my brother and that makes everything I do out there worth it because I can always come to him when it get to be too much. And he sometimes has a perspective I lack; so that's always handy. Anyway, it's your decision, and I've got your back no matter what." Her friend gave her a thumbs up before her reformed brother let out a loud snore from the couch where he was napping before flipping over and landing face first on the carpet. He never woke and just kept snoring away as his sister rolled her eyes affectionately.

————————

When Astrid returned home she did exactly as Night Fury asked her, she thought. Getting Gronckle to cover her patrols for a few days freed her to sit in her small abode in the Village of Heroes and go over every faucet of her relationship with the man, what she found didn't surprise her at all: she was in love with him too. The very thought of ending there relationship was like stabbing her brain and heart simultaneously with a knife. Then she thought about what Fury had said about spending his life with her, and not just behind the mask; it sent a thrill of excitement that she'd only ever felt with every step forward taken in their relationship surged through her and she had her answer, she was ready to commit everything to him, no more secrets. After all there were other heroes like Heather who lived outside the Village of Heroes usually with their spouses or other family members, no reason Astrid couldn't be like them. She could even get more room to decorate... she really hoped Night Fury liked having an axe hanging on the wall.

Once her decision was made the only thing left to was wait for him to show up again, she still had a couple of weeks left and suddenly wished they had kept those modified beepers for more than just the hotel weekends. She spent her time working out, and returning to her patrols; something that always had her keeping an eye out for him just in case. She found herself having a difficult time focusing on anything that wasn't physical activity; her mind was constantly counting the days until he made his reappearance.

Turns out Astrid wasn't the only one who missed her MIA boyfriend, there was a new special on his extended absence and whether or not he'd been defeated once and for all. She couldn't help but smile when people who'd be a 'hostage' were interviewed, because they all treated him as if he was their best friend who got him out of work for a day, even the pregnant woman made an appearance holding her son. She hoped someone put it online so she could watch it privately.

Finally a week and a half after the special he made his grand re-entrance. Piloting a large robot that was obviously just for show. The best part of the entire ordeal was the civilian's reaction, instead of running in fear they all cheered as if a local celebrity had come back home to visit. Deadly Nadder swooped on scene with an unstoppable grin on her face as they engaged in fisticuffs on the robot's head. It was all for show as well as he acted grievously wounded from a playful jab, her smiled broadened and she played along, even placing her foot on his side like a hunter after taking down a particularly large buck.

And then it all came crashing down around her.

Suddenly two large steel beams flew from the nearby construction site, slamming Fury who was still laying down pretending to be prone and curved around him and piercing the robot head to trap him like a restraining harness. Before she could ask what happened a muscular man in a hero costume landed beside her and struck a horribly smug pose for the cameras; Astrid vaguely remembered him as a recently accepted hero, she hadn't paid much attention to his super name or his powers. "Worry not luv, Trapper is on the scene to make sure this ne'er do well is properly handed off to the authorities this time!" He proclaimed loudly in his British accent before he swept Astrid in his arms and planted his lips on hers.

Time froze in that moment but not because it felt good, in fact the kiss was so sloppy she actually thought he might be trying to devour her face, but because she had to focused in order to not reflexively shoot spikes from the entirety of her arms. Unfortunately that meant Trapper had a few seconds where he was free to try and pry her mouth open with his tongue. When she finally reigned in control she shoved the larger man off her and followed up with a quick punch to the jaw. "What the hell are you doing!? You call yourself a hero then sexually assault me like that? What the hell!?" The crowd didn't seem to appreciate his antics either as they started booing and several cups and popcorn buckets(both bearing chibi versions of Deadly Nadder and Night Fury fighting) were hurled at the man and he was soon covered in soda and soggy popcorn. Astrid quickly turned around to apologize to Night Fury but it was too late, the bars had been melted in the middle and he was gone. She'd gone to their spot and waited until midnight.

He never showed.

And now everyday for the last two months she's come here to what was their rooftop and waited for an hour after sunset, but he's never shown up. Trapper, had been harangued by The Chief and the other senior heroes and made to give a public apology as well as a good faith tour around the city. Heroes having an HR department really saved his hide, almost as much as Forge-arm warning the Brit to give her a wide berth for his own safety.

The sound of a pair of boots hitting the gravel had Astrid spinning so fast any normal person would have gotten whiplash, she tried to hide her disappointment when she found the silver suit of Razorwhip instead of the pitch black and brown armor of Night Fury. "He still hasn't showed or tried to contact you at all?" Her friend asked in a sympathetic tone that would get her punched if it had involved any other subject, as the blonde merely shook her head but didn't move, she had another hour to wait today. "Maybe it's time that you stop waiting? I know this might sound a bit heartless, but you're hurting yourself more everyday he doesn't show. Maybe only come once a week for awhile? Then a month? You know ease yourself out of it?" Astrid wrestled with her temper, Heather's words came from a place of care and were well intentioned.

"I just can't let him go yet Heather... I was gonna do it... show him who I am, tell him I love him, maybe even talk about our future together. I've never been great with expressing my emotions, but he brought it out of me...". Astrid gave a humorless chuckle at the thought that just occurred to her, "A villain made me a better version of myself, maybe the best version of myself. And now I may never get the chance to truly show him that version all because that muttonheaded Trapper thought he could boost his popularity by trying to make it seem like I was infatuated with him. Gods what an ass...

"So is that all that brings you out here? You know you could just as easily conveyed that over the phone." Astrid asked the dark haired girl who had kept herself safely out of arm reach up to this point.

"Actually, no. The Chief wants everyone to report to headquarters, something about these new comm bracelets they handed out a few weeks ago. Yours has been off, so I figured you were here waiting for your bad guy." Heather explained, the hero Deadly Nadder looked at the bracelet that blended in with her sky blue costume, it had greatly improved how the heroes relayed information to one another with how it tapped into and secured their comm channels and even had holographic display; calling it just a comm bracelet felt a bit like an insult to its creator.

"And the him being The Chief he won't start until everyone is accounted for." It wasn't a question but Razorwhip nodded regardless. "Ugh, fine. Don't think he's showing up tonight anyway. I just wish I could find a way to tell him that it was all a stunt by Trapper, but he doesn't watch the news! He thinks it's all puff pieces and doomsday stories, which granted it usually is in Dragon's Edge, but still." The pair leapt to the neighboring rooftop as began the journey to the base of every hero in a thirty mile radius.

———————

"Ah finally we're all gathered!" The Chief boomed as they walked into the main atrium of Headquarters, a large open area with a fountain depicting a man and dragon making peace, meant to be a symbol of the goal all heroes strive to make a reality. All the local heroes were present and giving their leader the attention his sonic voice powers commanded, Deadly Nadder spotted Gronckle with the Zippleback Twins and Monstrous Nightmare not to far away. "I know you all have been speculating why I called you in so suddenly. Well my friends it is all to do with your nifty new communication bracelets that we've been field testing the last few weeks." The Chief ignored the numerous chuckles at his outdated use of the word 'nifty' including from those at the top of the stair case that lead to the headquarters proper behind him. Clearing his throat, he continued at a slightly power enhanced level; "These devices were actually built right here in house; an acquaintance of myself and Forge-arm came and built them as an audition of sorts. And as a result of using them we've noticed a 5% increase in efficiency the last two weeks, so as of today I'm am welcoming him into our base as our new co-quartermaster, please join me in welcoming the newest member of our team: Hiccup Haddock." The Chief announces with a flourish of his arm toward a svelte young man in his early twenties, probably around Astrid's age, with messy auburn hair and green eyes.

For someone who just scored a dream job of building tech for heroes the young man didn't look overly enthused, in fact his expression didn't change much except for when he nodded at Forge-arm and politely waved to the applauding crowd. It wasn't until he walked past The Chief that Astrid noticed the hero seemed uncomfortable with the situation as he awkwardly tried to pat the younger man's shoulder but stopped before his hand made contact. Their leader watched their new tech hand disappear through the door towards Forge-arm's work area before he turned back to the crowd of supers, "Well alright then, starting tomorrow Hiccup will be available for consultations on upgrading your gear and costumes. He isn't enhanced himself so he can only work so fast, please try not to overwork him or expect miracles of him; the lad is extremely talented but only human. That's all for today, so unless you have need of me you're all free to go about your business." Finishing his address the large man turned to his close friend Forge-arm and the two left while talking quite animatedly to one another, but Astrid was looking at the other door that Hiccup had vanished through.

a thought occurred to her that sparked a small fire of hope: If he was smart enough to build their new comm system then maybe, just maybe he was good enough to find a way to track Night Fury's tech.


	2. 2

Turns out that getting ahold of Hiccup to request his help was more difficult than Astrid had originally anticipated. The first few weeks after his introduction were completely booked with his upgrading other hero's gear, and the following week saw him making minor updates to every hero's suit. By the end of his first month the entirety of the hero community had suits that could withstand every firearm short of an rpg, armor piercing rounds not included.

During this time, the few heroes who had interacted with him all noted his aloof nature. They all claimed he was nearly robotic in his responses and indifferent to their requests of urgency, only Forge-arm spoke kindly of him and stated he was going through a tough time, but refused to go into detail.

Finally nearly two months after he was introduced, Astrid managed to find him in the armory workshop alone one night. He was hunched over his workbench and tinkering with a circuit board. Astrid had gone over how she would go about asking him to trace Night Fury's tech without arousing suspicion, but only now realized that she'd never gave a thought to how she's actually go about introducing herself.

"Deadly Nadder...". Hiccup spoke without looking away from his task. "I've been expecting you." He finished his final connection and slid the board away before turning in his stool to face her.

"You have?" Astrid asked in surprise, true she hadn't had anything upgraded yet, but he couldn't have possibly remembered every hero he'd done work for right?

"Yes, I have." He responded monotonously, "You're the only hero who hasn't requested any upgrades to your gear, the suit was ordered by The Chief, however you need a new sleeve system that better accommodates your spine ejection to ensure greater accuracy. Bring your suit by tomorrow and I'll have it ready before your patrols the following day." And with that he swirled back around and pick up a dismantled tablet and the circuit board. Seemingly having dismissed her without much fanfare.

A string of annoyance zipped through her, but she reigned it in; recalling he was apparently like this with everyone and was working through something personal. "Actually that's not why I've come." She state's stiffly, still wrestling her temper back. "I was hoping you might be able to help me with something. I lack the skills to do it myself, but with everything that you've done with our tech and gear I thought you might be capable of finding my target." This seemed to catch his attention as he put the reassembled tablet back down and turned to face her again. "My archenemy, Night Fury, he's gone dark for about four months now. I'm worried he might be up to something bigger than he's ever tried before, something that would take a long time to set up and I might not be able to defeat. So my hope is that you could possibly track down his tech's unique signature and pinpoint his location for me."

Hiccup stared at her for a long moment, his expression remaining neutral the entire time. Finally he took a breath and spoke. "No need." He turned back around and grabbed some other device and proceeded to take it apart. "Night Fury's tech has all been shut down. I sometimes hack the villain frequencies to be on top of what tech your heroes will need, all reports on their side say the same thing: Night Fury has left the game, Hunter-mind seemed particularly upset about it as he and Fury were as close as villains could be, almost friends I'd say. But they all indicate he's shut down his tech and vanished. Hope that helps."

Astrid stopped listening after he'd said he'd left the super world all together. She'd lost him, the one person in the world who had managed to slip past her hardened exterior and brought laughter back into her life was gone. She was under no illusions, if Fury had decided to disappear like Hiccup claimed then she'd never see him again, even if he was standing right in front of her.

Why hadn't she just told him who she was when he first asked?

Looking back it wasn't for any concern over her identity, she could take on almost every villain in a hundred mile radius. Truth is, she was scared of the idea of fully committing to someone, until she was forced to chose between that or losing Fury all together, and she still lost him in the end thanks to Trapper. Having been lost in her sorrow, she collapsed to her knees, arms wrapped around her torso in lew of having his arms to hold her.

A soft pressure on her shoulder brought her back to reality. Looking up, the heroine found the co-quartermaster looking at her with concern. His lips were moving but the words were muffled, she struggled to comprehend them and finally shook her head to restore her senses. "Wha... what?" She asked in a daze. The sound of her voice made his posture ease as if he'd been terrified.

"I was asking if you were ok. You just seized up after I told you what I knew, pretty sure you were dry heaving too..." the young man trailed off for a moment. "This was never about stopping some evil plot was it?" His tone told her enough, her reaction had been involuntary and given her away.

"No. It wasn't." Astrid admitted with her head bowed, not use in trying to lie her way out of it, she was caught. "Night Fury and I were seeing each other, there was a misunderstanding and he was hurt by it, I've been trying to find him ever since." Lifting her head she met the man's green eyes, eyes that reminded her of the man she loved. "I became romantically involved with a villain knowing full well what the consequences would be if it was discovered." She told him with all the fierceness of the dragon that her hero name honored.

Hiccup matched her stare, not with a fierceness of his own, but with understanding. "Well lucky fo you I know a bit about falling for someone you shouldn't. I'll keep this to myself, should anyone learn of it, it won't have been from me." He said as he stood and offered a hand to help her up. Astrid took it and let him pull her to her feet. "I don't think it will yield any results, but I'll see if I can track any active Night Fury tech that is out there. There's bound to be some in the hands of other villain, maybe some of them know more than they're letting on." The gratitude she felt in the moment was explosive as she gave him an uncharacteristic hug, afterwards she punched his arm and threatened him into swearing silence on it ever happening.

—————

After that evening Hiccup became a bit more personable. Heroes began warming to him as he actually began to show them alternative ways their new gadgets could be used to better their chances in combat and even in catching the bad guys. Heather even got a shiny new sword whip to wave around when the the Hunter gang started causing trouble, this prompted her to invite the man to sit with them at lunch(Astrid was pretty sure she was also trying to rile up Gronckle since the two use to date). Nightmare invited himself along and spent an hour trying and failing to impress the women, Hiccup entertained them by intentionally misdirecting him in the use of the gadgets he'd demanded be built immediately after the mechanic started.

Not long after that the Zippleback Twins joined them followed by a slightly sour Gronckle. To Heather's credit she had asked the quartermaster out but he kindly explained that he was just out of a serious relationship and wasn't ready to date again just yet, Astrid had to put a spike in Nightmare's butt to stop his teasing but the thin man took it all in stride.

About a week and a half after the seven started having regular weekly lunches, Hiccup showed up at her apartment door; heaving as if he'd run there. Astrid was grateful she still had her mask on at the time. In his hand was a tablet making a soft pinging noise every few seconds. Taking a few deep breaths to get himself composed once more Hiccup held it up so she could see what was on it. A satellite view of Dragon's Edge, and a location on the outskirts of the city just ten miles from the edge of Berserk, was a black symbol of a dragon curled in on itself: Night Fury's symbol.

"This just..." Hiccup started but he'd to take another deep breath, "this just popped up on the scan I promised I'd do. Night Fury tech, and a lot of it just came online."

Any trace of exhaustion that had been in her bones was expelled with extreme prejudice as the excitement of having a lead filled Astrid. She quickly thanked Hiccup and went to don her super suit, a quick call to Heather and the two agreed to meet outside the location and scout it out, both Hiccup and Heather had been insistent that she be smart about the situation as the activation of so much tech at once could spell trouble. As long as she found at least a clue to Fury's whereabouts though she'd be happy.

Heather arrived nearly ten minutes after Astrid did and the blonde handed her a spare set of binoculars that Hiccup gave her before she took off. They not only gave them a view from a distance, but also tracked the source of the tech signal for them to accurately pinpoint where they needed to go. Turned out the lair was beneath the factory, as if a soap making facility didn't draw enough attention. The lair must have been new, Astrid had been to Fury's multiple hideouts during their relationship for quick visits that weren't hero/villain related and didn't recognize this one, but the amount of tech being activated clearly meant this was Night Fury's.

After infiltrating the building the pair looked around and used the binoculars again to find a hidden entrance: concealed within a large display of the soap made there(Bewilder breeze). Heather was trying to figure out how to hack their way in when Astrid looked at the mechanism and it scanned her, the door slid open before either could drop a defensive stance.

Sharing a look of trepidation the women advanced slowly. The area below was filled to the brim with inventions, some Astrid recognizing from her various fight against Night Fury while others were a total mystery to her. Heather pointed out a couple she had seen used when Fury had teamed up with Hunter-mind, but even then there were so many neither had seen before. The sound of someone digging around the devices ahead of them put the duo on high alert. Heather leapt to the rafters for the element of surprise while Astrid continued moving on the floor in case it was just Fury finally reappearing.

Quietly moving as a team with years of experience working together brings, they soon found what looked like a main area. A computer with a list of the tech surrounding them was suspiciously left on, but otherwise the place was empty. Astrid moves to the computer and began reading through the list, it held detailed files of what each device was and what it did; as well as if it was present in the warehouse or in the possession of another villain. The one that caught her attention was the one marked 'MISSING'.

"Empath Ray?" She asked aloud, before clicking on the file to see how dangerous it would be. Heather landed beside her and looked over her shoulder as the schematics were displayed, the device looked relatively harmless like a simple tv remote, but what it did was the more important information. However before they could scroll down and read the purpose of said device, a the pair were hit with an old device Fury had used more than once: the immobilization cannon.

"Ah I thought I heard unwanted visitors." A calm voice spoke from behind them. The heroines didn't need to look to know who they'd found, Hunter-mind leisurely strolled past the two and turned the monitor and scrolled down on the Empath Ray's information. "I don't know how you managed to track down this place, Fury used it for storage after he finished devices that he either didn't like or planned to loan to others in our profession. He was unique in our line of work; never harmed civilians because he gained nothing from it, didn't hoard his technology and shared it willingly. I considered him a friend, he was so different from other villains that I sometimes forgot he was one himself." Hunter-mind chuckled before clearing his throat and facing the two women with a stern expression.

"Which brings me here, one day he just ups and disappears without a word. Having few whom I trust among the villains, I found myself concerned with this." The man approached Astrid until he stood mere inches away from her face. "So tell me Deadly Nadder: **WHERE. IS. NIGHT FURY?**"


	3. 3

"I'll ask only once more Deadly Nadder. **WHERE**. **IS. ****NIGHT FURY?**" Hunter-mind repeated. He was clearly out of patience with the heroine's silence, but he wouldn't like her answer anyway. They had come for the same reason, a fact she'd tell him if the immobilization cannon didn't prevent her from talking! Fury had mentioned it once before things had fallen apart, he designed it for capture and interrogation; but he hit a snag as the immobilization was complete, meaning the jaw won't move while effected. It was probably the reason the device was in this storage hideout.

Heather was grunting besides her as the raven haired girl tried to move, Astrid had the benefit of knowing the device was considered a failure and wasn't bothering to waste her energy. At her continued(albeit unwilling) silence, Hunter-mind growled in irritation and tossed the handheld cannon aside. Unfortunately the release button was not hit as the contraption slammed into other inventions that Night Fury had stored there, and fell to the ground with a clunk.

Hunter-mind rubbed his eyes trying to calm himself as much as possible, sadly this meant when he opened them again he noted the light from the computer screen behind the pair of frozen females. Taking the time to move them out of the way he claimed the seat at the desk and looked over the designs for the Empath Ray. "Hmm, this was the most recent project Night Fury was working on when he went missing...". The villain spoke to himself, he backed the page up to the list and 'hmm'd again when he saw it was listed as missing. "Missing, not incomplete. That means the device was finished beforehand..." Hunter-mind scratches his chin, not caring that he left his goatee a frazzled mess. "Something must have happened when he went to field test it! It's the only feasible reason for him to be gone this long."

While the villain was making these deductions, a small drone flew in from somewhere. It was shaped like a dragon, only with a small monitor where the face would go. It flew silently to the heroines and scanned them.

_Identified, Deadly Nadder Razorwhip._

The screen displayed before the drone turned and approached the discarded immobilization cannon, a small arm popped out and connected with the weapon and moments later the pair were free to move again.

Hunter-mind seemed too engrossed in his musings about what happened to Night Fury to notice the women moving behind him, and was therefore incredibly surprised when two pairs of hands grabbed him by the arms and shoulders before tossing him bodily across the floor. The drone that had freed them flew up into the darkness that covered the ceiling, disappearing from view; but Astrid and Heather had more pressing matters at the moment.

Hunter-mind staggered to his feet and drew a flaming sword from its place on his back, Astrid knew from times when she and Heather worked together that Hunter-mind wasn't much of a fighter in and of himself; he preferred to leave that to his elder brother: Hunter-blade. The younger sibling was the brains of their brotherly villain cartel, so for him to be willing to fight for this information meant it was important to him. Having once been partners with Heather, the two had developed a near telepathic communication in battle. Astrid feinted an advance and when Hunter-mind turned towards her, Heather struck. Her power was similar to Astrid's, only her spikes were more metallic and lacked the option of poison in them, and they also came from her legs instead of her hands. The raven haired beauty had taken every dance class she could find in order to have every possible move that could be put to practical use in combat, like the midair twirl she flawlessly performed to become a spinning kick machine of death.

The spikes were mostly blocked by their opponent and he was quick to reassess the situation. He was clearly outnumbered and outclassed in terms of fighting prowess, he hadn't anticipated heroes actually finding Fury's storage pit. Every device here was a potential weapon against them and only he knew its location in the villain cabal, so something wasn't adding up.

"Well... I know when I'm outmatched." Hunter-mind said while he put his sword away after dosing the flames. It had been a gift from Night Fury after their first victory over a couple of heroes, some loudmouth braggart that could set himself on fire and a pair of crazy siblings that had powers that worked in tandem to create explosions. "I'll withdraw for now, but I will find Night Fury. And when I do, we will be coming for the two of you with a vengeance!"

He grabbed a device beside him quickly and pulled the trigger, causing a large number of streamers and confetti to explode all over the heroines. They heard him laughing as he vanished into the piles of abandoned creations, but not his usual villain laugh; this one sounded more like actual laughter.

Astrid looked at the flare gun-esqe device that had been used on them and rolled her eyes, 'party in a gun' the label on the side read. Under normal circumstances she'd find it funny as well, but right now it allowed a top villain to slip through their grasp; as well as a possible lead on Night Fury.

The drone from earlier glided back down to hover in front of her. Once again she was scanned, not that she was too worried since it freed her last time. After confirming her hero identity once more it displayed a message, only five words:_ 'Please stop looking for me.'_

The sender was painfully clear, the small symbol in the bottom corner of the screen was familiar to anyone from Dragon's Edge: Night Fury. The message had to be automated, otherwise there would be no need to scan her. The only positive she could take from this revelation was that before he went to ground, Night Fury had taken some the time to program a drone to ensure his tech couldn't be used against her. However there was also the matter that he had known she'd come looking for him and didn't want to be found, the day they last saw each other flashed through her mind's eye; he was hurt but still chose to protect her. She resolved herself once more, she couldn't honor his request; she would find him and explain everything before begging him to give them a real chance. A chance at happiness without the masks.

Later that evening found the friends entering Heather's apartment, and much to their surprise a public acceptably dressed Dagur. The man was wearing a collared shirt and light brown jeans, it came as a shock since his former life as a villain who didn't hide behind a mask made his transition to civilian life difficult. "Sis! Other sis! I didn't realize you'd be back so soon. I was hoping to have good news for you when you got back, but I'm only just about to head out myself."

"Well you surprised us just by wearing something other than sweats and wife beaters for a change Dag. What's the occasion?" Heather asked.

"Oh a friend of mine from before the villain days is coming into Berserk, said he wanted to meet up for dinner and that he had something he wanted to discuss with me." The elder sibling answered while he patted himself down to make sure he had his phone wallet and keys(men reading know the process). "I'll let you know how it goes when I get back! And don't worry, if he wants me for anything even questioningly legal I'll keep my promise and turn it down!" They heard him shouting back down the hall as he left.

—————

"Brother!" Dagur exclaimed as he swept Hiccup up into a hug, the pair had met years ago when the younger was pursuing an engineering degree(which he got). "So what brings you to Berserk? Last I heard you were now 'mr. fancy gadget man' for the heroes."

Hiccup chuckled and rubbed the back of his head as he responded, "Yeah I am, and it's been interesting. However it also gives me an opportunity to make connections with other tech people that work in other cities; and a recent one has need of someone that I think you're a perfect match for." The two put the conversation on hold while they ordered a couple drinks and sirloins to eat.

"Wait... is this a job offer?" Dagur said when the waiter walked away.

Hiccup nodded, but elaborated. "It's more of a job opportunity, I don't make the final call. But this woman is in charge of a very high end tech firm and she is looking for someone that knows how to handle themselves in a fight. Despite your... background, I think you could do this job fairly well. The heroes won't trust you due to The Chief's rather rigid belief that 'once a villain always a villain'. But Ms. Queen is more flexible with her way of thinking. She's agreed to meet with you if you're interested, the pays good and it comes with benefits. You mentioned that you're still living with Heather and this could either help you move out or afford you two a nicer place if you want to stay together."

Dagur simply looked at his friend, Hiccup had helped him a lot in the time they'd known each other, but this was huge. For months he'd been secretly leaving while his sister was on patrol, trying to find work so he could contribute to their lives. Heather made plenty as a hero, but he hated feeling like a burden on her.

"If she's aware and still willing to meet with me then I can't afford to turn her down; but I need to know Hiccup. This is on the up and up right? I gave Heather my word that I was done with the whole villain life and I am NOT breaking that promise." The carrot topped man told Hiccup, he used to be known as deranged, but for his sister, his only family left, he would do anything.

"I wouldn't have brought it up otherwise Dagur. Defender technology is 100% legit and even sponsors a few heroes. This is simply private security, you'll be watching monitors most of the time and watching over the CEO when she has meetings, some thugs have tried robbing them in hopes of becoming the newest villain in town; so you're job will be to stop the ones dumb enough to try. Non-lethally of course." Hiccup explained, while lifting a box and pushing it across the table. Dagur opened it to find a three piece suit and tie neatly folded, his measurements written down so he knew it was tailored for him. He looked back up at Hiccup with a questioning gaze. "You'll want to look the part, this has all the fashion of a dress suit; but all the functionality of the heroes latest costumes. Bullet, fire, and even stab proof; you wear this and you are the best security that money can buy."

He put the box in the chair beside him as their food came. They switched to lighter topics while they ate, Hiccup knowingly giving him time to consider the chance he was being offered. Hiccup insisted that he pay the bill, and the pair walked to the nearby bus stop for Dagur to take home. They shook hands before Dagur took the smaller man into his arms for a hug; a hug that had Hiccup reminding the man he still required the ability to breathe. They then parted ways, a smile on Dagur's face then entire ride back to the apartment he shared with his sister. He couldn't wait to tell her the good news as he looked down at the suit he'd been given, he'd probably omit the bit about their tech guy being the one he met with and giving him hero class gear.

When he got back Astrid had left, but Heather was waiting for him with a cup of cocoa. Hearing that his friend had possibly found him a job brought such a look of excitement to his sister's face that Dagur couldn't help but wish he could tell her the whole truth, but Hiccup had his reasons for keeping their connection quiet. His association with even a former villain would bring him a lot of headaches with The Chief and Dagur owed him too much to cause him any undo stress. Perhaps this job could show he truly had left the life of an evildoer behind him, after all... its not like he's the only one to do it.


	4. 4

Astrid and Heather both walked into the restaurant that Dagur had requested they meet him at with trepidation. It had been two weeks since he had come back to the apartment he and Heather shared and told her about a job opportunity, since then he had interviewed and been hired on the spot. His new work schedule was a busy one and Heather only saw him two or three days a week now, but neither woman could deny the life in his eyes that had been present since he started working.

The restaurant was an upscale one, so they were dressed in slightly more formal wear than their typical night out. Dagur has received his first paycheck and wanted to treat them both; Heather because she was his sister and never gave up on him, and Astrid because she knew of his former life on villainy and accepted him regardless for her friend. He also mentioned his friend that got him the job would be joining them, as Dagur's way of thanking him.

They gave their names to the hostess at the door and were led to a back room, it was for more exclusive dining and customers. In other words it was expensive as hell.

There they spotted Dagur, he wasn't alone as a familiar mop of auburn hair sat next to him as they discussed which wine to order. Dagur noticed them first and quickly stood to greet them both with tight hugs that was pretty much tradition with him at this point. "Ladies! I'm glad you made it! Allow me to introduce my buddy from school." He indicated to Hiccup, "This here is Hiccup Haddock, he's actually the same age as you two but blew through the course work so easily that they bumped him forward a few years to challenge him." Hiccup shook their hands, but didn't make eye contact with Astrid, the reddish hue of his ears hinting to the reason.

"It's nice to meet you both, Dagur has told me a lot about the two of you over the years. I'm glad that this all worked out for him." Hiccup said once introductions were done. He and Dagur even pulled the women's seats out for them; Dagur for Heather and Hiccup for Astrid.

"I wasn't aware Dagur associated with gentlemen, or could be one himself when the opportunity presents itself." Astrid teased once the men returned to their own seats, causing them both to flush with embarrassment. "Then again I also didn't know he could pull off a suit until he got this job either. Maybe you are a good influence on him."

When Hiccup's face turned as red as the cloth covering their table she realized her misstep. She'd forgotten that Hiccup didn't know ASTRID, he knew Deadly Nadder. She'd become so used to their interactions that the fact she wore a mask during those times had slipped her mind and now she came off as a major flirt.

This wouldn't be such a bad thing if she wasn't set on finding Night Fury after the incident at his storage bunker. Hiccup was cute in his own right, and after his cold distant demeanor had worn off he'd been a good friend to many heroes. Had Astrid not already fallen for Night Fury when they met she'd wouldn't be opposed to giving him a chance, but she had already set her heart on the villain.

The rest of dinner passed decently, if a little awkward. Astrid kept herself in check and treated Hiccup as if they were meeting for the first time, and he didn't blush again for the remainder of the meal. When dessert menus were passed another he kindly refused one and stated he needed to take his leave, Dagur immediately jumped to his feet and insisted upon seeing him out. The instant they were out of the back area, Heather was set upon her with questions.

"Ok what the hell was that when we got here? Are you into Hiccup? Does this mean you're finally ready to move on from Night Fury? Do you think the triple layer chocolate cake covered in chocolate sauce is too chocolaty?"

Astrid calmed her friend with a hand over the girls mouth. "Ok breathe Heather, no I wasn't flirting with Hiccup. Honestly I was surprised that he knew Dagur and didn't think before responding like I would as Deadly Nadder and realized too late that he didn't know me as Astrid. I'm not giving up on Fury just yet, that drone meant he knew I'd come looking and that's reason enough for me to keep up the search. And finally: aren't you trying to cut back on carbs? Gronckle might just start looking a Zipple-Barf if you're not careful." She answered in sequence, ending with a tease. In truth, Gronckle was terrified of the female Zippleback twin; but it worked to motivate Heather into healthier routines.

Dagur returned while his sister stared longingly at the picture of the dessert she craved, sitting down with a huff. He looked slightly irritated and crossed his arms while shaking his head. "He's a stubborn one that Hiccup. He thinks he did something to upset you with that flirting you opened with only to clamp up immediately after." He exposited to Astrid. The sound of the blonde's head slamming on the table drew attention from other diners in the room but they quickly wrote the girl off as being melodramatic.

"I wasn't trying to flirt, I just forgot he doesn't know my civilian identity and acted like I usually do around him. I didn't mean to make him feel bad."

"Well he was certainly uncomfortable, and now he thinks the pretty girl he met thinks he's weird and has put his old walls back up. He was the same way in school; total rockstar in class, but the instant he was in a social situation, especially with a girl he found attractive, he turns into an clueless moron who believes he can't do anything right." Dagur explained with a sad look. "I didn't even get to tell you guys that Ms. Queen and I really hit it off after a few days. At first she was only hiring a bodyguard to appease her board of directors, but now we really enjoy each other's company. Honestly if I didn't work for her I'd ask her out."

The girls shared wide eyed looks, Dagur was not the type to gush about anything even remotely romance related, to the point the two had a bet on whether he was gay or asexual(guess neither are winning that one), so the revelation that he had the hots for the woman he was hired to protect was quite the shock.

The waiter returned and Astrid was still so surprised that she didn't even tease Heather about getting the slice of cake after all. There was also the information she'd garnered about their quartermaster. She had known he'd dealt with bullies growing up, but the unease with women was new. The man had no issues when conversing with her and Heather at headquarters, but then again maybe the whole 'being a superhero' thing acted as a buffer. Part of her wanted to go and apologize to him, despite the likelihood that he was miles away by now and she had no idea where he lived. There was no way she could make amends as Nadder since the heroine should have no way of knowing about him having dinner with a former villain. Sometimes she hated this part of having a double life.

—————

The next day she was still feeling the guilt. Hiccup had been polite as always and then she had a momentary brain malfunction and followed that up with what probably came across as a cold demeanor. The only thing she could do at this point is be extra nice as Nadder and hope that it lifts his spirits somewhat.

Which is why she was currently on her way to his workspace, intent of inviting him to lunch. He'd been running a lot of errands for the more experienced heroes and finally had a day where he could do what he did best, but even a brain as big as his needs food.

Predictably, he was hunched over his desk, tool in one hand while the other adjusted whatever he was working on. "Whatcha working on there he'd gadget boy?" She asked in greeting, using a nickname she given him after he made several gadgets for no reason other than to see if he could. Hiccup gave no indication he'd heard her, not even a flinch at her sudden voice behind him, he merely set the screwdriver down and picked up a small wrench. "Hello? Hiccup? This is Nadder requesting clearance for lunch and conversation."

"Can't. Busy." Was all he said, never once looking away for his project. He hadn't brushed her off like this since the first day they'd spoken to each other, normally he was eager to have an excuse to get out for a hour or two.

"Hiccup, you need to eat just like the rest of us. You were given the best security system that you could possibly get, and then you upgraded it out of boredom. You can spare an hour to have a meal with a friend." Astrid tried reasoning, it really had been impressive when he implanted a small addition to the trip lasers in his office to make them switch to actual lasers that covered all possible exits should they be tripped.

"With all the on site calls by The Chief and other higher up heroes lately, I haven't had time to work on these other orders. I'm behind and need to catch up, maybe some other time." He responded flatly, but at least he was speaking in more than single words sentences. One more push should do the trick.

"You know I'm not going to le-"

The sound of his fist hitting the titanium table cut off any words she had planned to say. Hiccup wasn't the type to anger this quickly, maybe she upset him at dinner more than she'd realized. Now that she thought about it, being reminded of how awkward one used to be around someone they found attractive would probably put her in a foul mood too. "I really need to get this work done. Please, just let me do my job." His tone was an odd mix of pleading and demanding, and Astrid found herself complying. When she reached the door he spoke softly, but she still heard the first part. "Maybe another day..." he mumbled the last bit too quietly for her to hear, but she let it go. She didn't want to damage this friendship more than might have already been done.

—————

"So he slammed his fist intro the table and snapped at you?" Heather clarified as she avoided Astrid's jab, they were sparring with several other heroes in the gym after a long lunch.

Astrid nodded, "Yeah. It was really out of character for him and if I'm completely honest: rather concerning. I didn't realize that he might be that upset by my behavior last night." Heather attempted a left hook, but the blonde blocked it and lightly twisted the other girls arm to pin it to her back. They often had some of their best brainstorming sessions while having a light spar.

"Dagur did say he was teased a lot in school for being scrawnier than most." Heather recalled, "And that when he tried to ask out some girl he had a crush on that he was laughed out of that building. Poor guy."

"Thanks, that really helps to make me feel better." Astrid drawled sarcastically, "Part of me thinks we should look up everyone who bullied or teased him back then and show them what he's doing now. Bet their tunes would change in an instant." Astrid scowled as Heather broke from her hold and they returned to their starting positions.

Hiccup's actions had weighted heavily on her all through lunch, she barely partook in the conversation that the others they normally ate with were having. The more she thought on it, the more she was convinced that it had more to do with than a girl making him feel awkward. For that you just clam up, not try to punch a hole in one of the toughest metals on the planet.

No... there was something more at play here, the question was what?

The other question is should she even worry about it? Hiccup was her friend, no denying that, but he was his own person. It would be different if they were involved like she had been with Night Fury, then it would be her business.

The thought of her lost love distracted her long enough for Heather to make the first move; Astrid wasn't even aware they had started until her back hit the mat like a sack of flour.

"You were thinking about HIM again weren't you?" Her friend asked, he gave clearly showing that she knew the answer, "I never get a slam like that unless you're distracted thinking about you long lost evil love!"

"Shh! You want the majority of the hero community to hear you? There has to be at least half of the full timers here right now!" Astrid warned. Most of the other pairs weren't paying attention, but a few that were aware of her hand to hand skills were currently gaping at the rare phenomenon of Nadder being put on the mat in such a way. Despite the masks they all wore, she could easily make out their shocked expressions from the look of their eyes.

And then the alarms began blaring.

The heroes in the gym all went in high alert at the sound. This was a first for all of them, no one had ever been foolish enough to launch an assault of the heroes' seat of power. Before anyone could check to see what the situation was, the windows on the roof to allow more natural light shattered. Ropes fell in as men in some sort of tactical gear rappelled down with guns that fired some type of energy.

The heroes sprang into action without hesitation, those who could fly or jump higher than others attacked the men still descending, sending them spiraling to the ground. Astrid was at the head of the charge to meet those who had managed to safely find the floor and was quick to fire off to poison filled spikes at their chests, mercy was not at option when on the defensive. Beside her, Heather was doing the same; however their spikes barely stuck to the gear the men wore, and were easily brushed off. "They're armor must be tailored to our powers!" Astrid shouted, letting everyone know that the fight wasn't going to be an easy one.

Monstrous Nightmare barreled last her and set himself aflame as he closed in on the nearest attacker. "Stand aside babe, and watch my awesomeness as I take these guys d-" but he was cut off as the man nonchalantly leveled his gun and fired a single bolt of purple energy. The shot hit Nightmare squarely in the chest, but only cause him to stumble and his flames to go out. The stocky hero checked himself for any sign of injury, finding none, his smug expression returned.

"Awww, looks like your little light show wasn't very helpful after..." he began, but trailed off as he looked at his arms Ian's chest in confusion. "What the hell?" He said to himself, he made a flexing motion with his arms. "Why can't I flame up? What's going on here!?" He shouted in anger as the man flicked a switch on his rifle and pulled the trigger again, this time firing a concussive blast that sent Nightmare soaring across the gym, hitting Wingmaiden and sending the pair crashing into the weights.

"The guns can neutralize powers..." Astrid realized aloud. The situation went from bad to worse as others either noticed this themselves, or found out the hard way by being hit with the purple energy. Unbidden, a memory crossed he mind of a discussion she'd had with Night Fury, where he was approached about developing this very tech; but had refused. It would seem the party that requested his assistance had managed to achieve their goal without him.

Sharing a brief glance with Heather, the two women charged. If their powers could be nullified and the armor protected against them anyway, then a good ole pummeling would have to do the trick. Several others had reached the same conclusion, if the armored assailants littering the floor were any indication. The pair reached a couple of men who were trying to trained their weapons on them, only for the girls to swivel out of their sights to keep them flustered while the distance between them closed. Astrid blew right past the two and turned on her heel, predictably they both spun around to aim at her; only to receive a strong kick to the sides of their necks from Heather. They dropped like bricks.

The Zippleback Twins were having a great deal of success using their powers. Zipple-barf would create a smokescreen with her noxious gas emitted from her hands, and when Zipple-belch lured a few into the green fumes; he'd produce sparks from his hands to light the flammable gas up to create a controlled explosion. Gronckle was down, as were a few others. Plenty had their powers cancelled out by the strange guns but were relying on the super's naturally stronger and more durable body to make up the difference.

With the number of powers accessible down to less than a dozen, the men were mainly swapping to the concussive shot function. The heroes numbers were dwindling, and fast. Astrid and Heather had managed to knock out a couple more pairs of men before a new man entered through the doorway. In an instant he cocked the rifle up and tagged the both of them with the neutralizing energy, and they were sent flying toward him by the other men.

Panting and lifting her head revealed that the heroes had all been brought down. Most were unconscious, and the few still aware were too drained without their powers to fight back effectively. The men began to cuff the supers and more were being dragged in by others she hadn't even been aware of. The strike had been quick and efficient, almost government level training and skill. The only reason Astrid ruled that out was because heroes are considered a branch of the government's peace keeping division. These men were good, their gear and the way they blitzed the heroes all screamed military training; could they be turning on them?

The man who had shot Astrid and Heather came to a stop in front of them, his visor seemed focused on her rather than her partner. He didn't even look towards The Chief as he was deposited beside her by five men working together. "As you can see, we have all of you captured." The man stated, he voice garbled by the helmet. "You so called heroes, are little more than glory hounds. Always looking for the next fight to keep yourselves important in the eye of the public." The man continued to debase the heroes as a collective, but a spark of familiarity struck when he put his hands behind his back and clasped one wrist with the other hand. Astrid knew that pose.

Sure enough, when he finished, Hunter-mind removed the helmet and glared at them all. This was an unusual strategy for him, typically he worked more like Night Fury did and preferred to outsmart his enemies. If he was going full offensive, then he was either determined or desperate. The fact that no other member of the assault team removed their helmet hinted that Hunter-blade was not among them, another abnormality of this occurrence.

Hunter-mind approached her once more before kneeling. "I'll give you one last chance before I begin executing your fellow heroes one by one until you divulge Night Fury's location to me." He said curtly, his voice was as cold as his eyes.

"I don't know why you think I would know! I've been looking for him too!"

He looked her with a quirked eyebrow and a disappointed face. "You're really going to make me do this? Disregard my friend's request?" He shot back at her, causing her brow to crease in confusion. Hunter-mind released a sad sigh, "Very well... have it you're way Nadder." He pulled out a small device, slightly smaller than a phone and flicked it loose in his hand. A large holographic image appeared a couple feet to his left, one that silenced all the heroes in shock. "I think you know where he is, because of how close the two of you were before his disappearance."

The image was one of herself and Night Fury, embracing one another tightly with their lips sealed in a passionate kiss.

**A/n: secret's out! All wagers on what will happen next may be left in the reviews **


	5. 5

**A/n: couple quick shout outs to some reviewers: Permanent Guest godspeed83. This ones for you kids!**

**Oh and Permanent Guest, easy on the potential spoilers friend!**

Hiccup sighed as he put his soldering iron away. He really should apologize to her.

It wasn't Nadder's fault he was in such a foul mood, no that honor belonged to his absentee father. Nearly twenty years of neglect and suddenly he wants to have a relationship? Hiccup is usually slow to anger, but the call casually inviting him to have dinner this evening as if they had done it every week for years? No amount of mental fortitude could contain the animosity that welled up within him.

Of course only minutes after he had harangued the man and slammed his phone on the table to get himself under control, did his favorite heroine walk in to invite him to lunch. Normally he'd jump at the chance, but today just reminded him of the phone call he'd just had and caused the rage to resurface. It took all he had to keep himself in control to decline, only for Nadder to push more. In the end, slamming his fist down was unintentional; but it had got the message across.

Hiccup made a mental note to apologize as soon as he saw her again.

And then the alarm was set off.

Instantly the doors and vents into his workshop were barred with red lasers that he had modified, effectively caving him in. Distantly he could hear the sounds of weapons fire and super powers being used, it didn't take much to out one and one together. Hiccup quickly grabbed some tools and went over to his security systems control box, ripping it open and beginning to bypass the improvements he'd made.

While he was working he heard the sounds of those using the weapons gain the upper hand on the heroes in the annex, they weren't going to last long.

"Shit."

—————

The image of herself and Night Fury hung in the air, the silence it had imposed was deafening. A part of Astrid could only think thank the gods Nightmare was unconscious so she didn't have to hear him feeling betrayed from his delusions that she was into him.

Hunter-Mind watched the expressions that were surely dancing across her face, she had no idea that there was any evidence of her relationship with the missing villain to be used against her. The picture was authentic, that much she knew; the smear of oil on her right pauldron was from one of Fury's messier excuses to see her; they'd been covered in oil and spent the majority of the evening helping each other clean their costumes and sharing kisses like the one displayed. It was a happy memory, and Hunter-Mind was using it against her.

The Chief, who was hogtied and gagged beside her, was switching between confused and enraged; whether at her or Hunter-Mind was debatable. Astrid knew no matter what happened now that her time as a hero was over, even if the others were convinced that the image was doctored. With increased criticism from certain political powers and hopefuls, heroes couldn't risk a scandal like one of their own becoming romantically involved with a villain, former or otherwise. This image was damming and now that it was exposed to so many active heroes meant she couldn't continue like she had the past few months since Fury vanished.

"Where did you get that image?" She asked

"It was saved in Fury's most heavily encrypted files. It took my shunt program over three months to crack, it also had a back up security measure that was a recorded message from Fury begging me to not look in it and another begging me never to show it to anyone." Hunter-Mind answered, "But I need to find my friend, and you are the only lead I have. I didn't want to do this."

Astrid felt a mix of anger and sympathy, "Well I'm afraid you've disregarded his wishes in vain, I really don't know where he is. If I did then I'd be there with him, but that day he used the giant robot? The day that muttonhead Trapper made his debut?" Everyone ignored Trapper's shout of indignation, "That was the last time I saw him. We were going to have a serious conversation about our future afterwards, but because of that idiot Fury never showed and I've been trying to find any lead myself. Sorry you wasted your time."

Hunter-Mind sighed sadly, it was the most emotive she'd ever seen the villain. He looked genuinely upset that he wasn't any closer to finding Night Fury.

Then the lights cut out and security shutters closed around the windows.

It didn't take long for the emergency lights to kick on, the dark red lights didn't really aide visibility since they were meant for actual emergencies. Even at only five feet apart Hunter-Mind was little more than a silhouette to Astrid, before anyone could ask what was going on the team Hunter-Mind had brought with him flipped the lights on their helmets on.

The speaker system tackled to life and a voice came over it. "Someone give The Chief my apologies, but whatever malfunction happened sorta trapped me in my workshop. Had to cut power to get out, but I'll fix it! Just as soon as I find the problem."

Astrid couldn't believe it, Hiccup was still free! Then she reran his words and realized he had no idea what was happening, the villain gestured to two of his men who promptly went to find the man. If their powers weren't currently neutralized, this would be a prime opportunity to launch a counterattack, however most were either out cold, still powerless, or just too worn down to fight the men surrounding them. Not to mention their weapons were still working just fine, so those still able to fight wouldn't last long anyway. Astrid hates feeling powerless and that exactly what she was now, both literally and metaphorically.

There was a sound of a door opening and shutting, followed by the light footsteps instantly putting everyone(heroes and attackers alike) on high alert. After a quiet moment one of the men screamed and the lights on his helmet where being dragged along the floor before the sound of a punch was heard and they cut out. "It would appear we have a straggler men." Hunter-Mind announced, "Switch to night vision and capture them!"

The lights from all the helmets went out as the men spread out, Hunter-Mind himself approached Astrid and grabbed her arm and kept her still by hold the concussive part of his weapon aimed at her. As durable as she was, a blast at this range would still kill her.

Suddenly there was another cry as one of the men was attacked from above, the men around him turned to their downed comrade only to see a figure disappearing from their field of sight before another was tackled and knocked out. This process repeated, one even being grabbed from behind and being swung around while his concussion cannon was fired three times at the others nearby. The men were falling fast, whoever it was taking them out knew exactly how to use the dark to their advantage; for a spilt second Astrid believed Batman was more than a comic book character.

In a matter of minutes it was just Hunter-Mind left, still using her as a human shield. "Show yourself hero! There's no need for Nadder here to die!" He shouted out, Astrid knew there was no alternative here; he was backed up to the wall, eliminating that possibility of an attack from behind. The sound of footsteps approaches them, stopping just out of their ability to make the person out, just a dark figure with their hands up. "Right then, just stand right there while I make sure your powers won't cause any problems." He said and switch over to the neutralizer function.

Hunter-Mind fires, but he figure leaned to he left and let the bolt of energy harmlessly fly past them. Astrid would have been impressed, but didn't get the chance as immediately afterward the person brought their hands down, a motion that was paired with them igniting in a familiar blue flame.

"Night Fury!?" Hunter-Mind asked surprise.

"Hiccup?" Astrid whispered to herself in shock.

He'd been right beside her the whole time? And he'd never come clean dispute everything she'd told him about the situation? She wanted to mad, wanted to break out of Hunter-Mind's hold and punch him for everything he put her through, but more than anything she just wanted to hug him and never let him go. She hated her girly feelings sometimes.

Hiccup didn't respond to either question, the flames in his hands seemed to condense themselves into balls of plasma right before her put his hands together and the combined ball flew forward and exploded as it connected with the wall just behind them. The pair were separated as the blast sent them reeling forward, Astrid felt a gentle pair of hands catch her and ensure she was balanced before Hiccup raced past her. His hands once more engulfed in flame, he leapt at his fellow villain and began swiping at him; Astrid could tell from her experiences with fighting him that he was just forcing Hunter-Mind back toward the hole he'd made in the wall.

Once more using the blast he'd used to free her, he launched himself at Hunter-Mind and the two flew outside through the hole; Astrid took all of two seconds to follow. She landed and saw the two standing a distance away, the fight was over but they were staring each other down, and Hiccup didn't look happy. Neither had seemed to notice her.

"I told you I was leaving the life Viggo, I don't want anything more to do with that villainy. So why have you been looking for me?" Hiccup spoke clearly.

"For someone wanting nothing to do with the life of supers, it's awfully strange to find you hiding among the heroes." Hunter-Mind responded, "I wanted to respect your choice, but not long after you left, HE returned. He's making his move soon Night Fury, this was the opportunity you've been waiting for; you can't give up now that it's within your grasp! You have allies among us!"

Whose was this 'HE' they were talking about.

"My priorities have changed, as you so kindly displayed for the entire hero community to see. I left for her, my old goals would risk her life and that's something I am no longer willing to gamble. That's why even she was unaware of my location."

He was hiding to protect her? Even from her? Astrid needed answers.

Hunter-Mind sighed, "Very well my friend... should you change your mind, do not hesitate to contact me." The villain turned to leave before remembering something and facing Hiccup once more. "Oh and consider coming back to poker nights at Al's, we all miss your skills on the grill." And with that he left.

Hiccup let out a long breath and turned to leave himself, and immediately locked eyes with Astrid. The pair were both lost in that moment, waiting for the other to act or break the silence first, both keenly award that Hiccup had just outted himself as a former villain in front of the entirety of the hero community in the Berk region. Taking a final breath he broke eye contact and began to move, he was running out of time.

What he didn't expect was for her to spring into action and chase after him. Locking her hand around his wrist, she spun him to face her; once more gazing into green eyes that she now understood why they felt so familiar. He tried to tug his arm from her grip, but she held firm, he wasn't going to be losing her easily. Knowing that the heroes were figuring out who was in condition to take action, Hiccup spoke his mind. "The other heroes are going to be coming any minute, I have to be gone when they get their act together."

The heroine didn't release her hold on him. "You lead, and I'll follow." She stated simply, sliding her hand down to lace her fingers through his own.

"Nadder, there's a chance you can sidestep the backlash against you. Tell them it was a ploy to finally capture me for good, if they think you were playing a long game solution then they could let you off with a slap on the wrist. But me? I'll be declared a wanted man, I'll never be able to really be free; not like I wanted us to be..." He sighed, subconsciously squeezing her hand. "I'd never ask you to give up your dream."

She tugged in his hand hard and pulled him into a kiss. It was quick but didn't lack for passion, and she never let him go during the act. "I'm not going to lie about my relationship with the man I love." She said resolute, causing his jaw to drop. "Besides, the hero dream would have to end someday... The dream of a life with you won't." She told him while they rested their foreheads together

Hiccup worked his jaw several times before he found his voice. "Ast..."

"HICCUP!!!"

Both of their heads shot up and looked toward the hole in second story of the wall. The Chief did not sound please. Hiccup grabbed her hand and the pair took off with great haste. "And that happened..."

It wasn't until this moment that something occurred to Astrid, with his hand in hers. His bare hand. He wasn't wearing the gloves that produced the flame he'd been so favorable towards over their history as herovillain. Playing the events of the last half hour in her mind revealed that he wasn't wearing them at any point during the attack.

Hiccup wasn't a gadgeteer, he was a super.


	6. 6

The pair arrived at an undisclosed location that Astrid assumed was another of Night Fury's hidden safe houses. After she'd declared her intent to follow him regardless, Astrid and Hiccup had moved quickly and stealthily to her lodging in the Village of Heroes and grabbed any essentials she'd need, he told her that he could get her any clothes she might want or need and that she should stick to anything of sentimental value or personal importance. In a matter of minutes after that they were in the wind, moving underground in tunnels that she'd never known about; Hiccup explained they were meant for evacuation should the heroes ever need to escape covertly.

They hadn't had time yet to truly breathe and talk about everything that had happened with Hunter-Mind and the heroes, but now that they were safe for the time being they could rest for a bit before figuring out their next move. Astrid planned on removing her mask and committing herself to their relationship at last once they settled for a bit.

"We should be safe here for awhile." Hiccup spoke after a few gulps of air, "The Chief is a smart enough man, but I doubt he'll think to check one of his own storehouses." The revelation came as a surprise to the heroine.

"How do you know the location of one of the storehouses belonging to the leader of the heroes'? Those are supposed to be secret even among us." She couldn't help but ask, it seems knowing his true identity brought more questions than answers then she thought it would.

"That's a lot to unpack right now, and I promise we will after we've gotten a more long term place to stay. You can even punch me like I could tell you wanted to back at the gymnasium. I don't want to hide anything from you Astrid." He said quickly and without thinking. They both flinched after realizing what he said.

"You... you know?" Astrid breathed quietly.

He turned to face her for the first time since she kissed him outside the heroes base and nodded slowly. "I've known for a long time, before we ever got together. I knew your identity was important to you so I kept it to myself."

"If you knew then why did you push for us to share them with each other?" She demanded.

"Because it had to be your choice, then I would know it was because you trusted me not to use it against you. I wanted you to feel comfortable sharing that with me, it's why I hated myself for giving you that ultimatum about revealing it to me." He spoke sadly.

With a sigh Astrid removed the mask from her face, there was no point in it now. Neither got the reveal they wanted, but it wasn't as important as she thought it would be. They knew who each other were now and somehow despite everything that had happened and the situation they found themselves in, she was glad to be rid of the barrier between them.

"It's fine." She said with a small smile. "But we have bigger problems, where do we plan to go now? Anywhere in Dragon's Edge is out of the question, the heroes will likely be canvassing the city since that was my territory and your most common appearances were there. Berserk is also out since I would work with Razorwhip there from time to time due to our past partnership."

"Yeah and I wouldn't want to bring undue stress on her or Dagur, those two have it rough enough being siblings who were on opposite ends of the super spectrum." Hiccup agreed, because of course he knew Heather's identity too. "She might have been aware of our relationship but she can still play ignorant since it was only for the last year and you two had gone your separate ways before then. And Dagur has enough scrutiny with his past, best to leave them be..." he paused and thought for a moment. "For now our best choice is to head north, towards Berk. The Chief won't be looking in his home town for two supers that have never been sighted there."

The idea had merit, Astrid hadn't been back to her childhood home in a long time. Both her parents had passed away when she was young and after her uncle Finn had died protecting people from a villain that was on the run she hadn't had the will to return, in retrospect she probably owes her time as a hero to her uncle; seeing as his death triggered her powers manifesting.

She nodded in agreement and took stock of the supplies around them, Hiccup had been digging around for something before his slip in using her real name, might as well make use of anything that could be helpful. There was a bathroom where she changed into the spare set of clothes she'd thought to grab while at her place; that was a good start, despite Hiccup's suggestion she thought it smart to avoid running around in yoga pants and a bright blue tank top.

Emerging from the bathroom in leggings, a skirt and a red top had her feeling a bit more refreshed and capable of blending into crowds, the thought shook her for a moment as she realized how quickly she was adopting an almost criminal mindset. Though she'd likely be branded one later today if she wasn't already; Hiccup had gathered a few emergency rations and was holding a set of keys, seemed that he was relying on his time as a villain to ensure their safety for now as well.

"Hopefully he doesn't come looking here anytime soon and I can return the car before then, but I'll reactivate the tracker if that isn't an option." He explained before heading to the garage. The Chief's vehicles were things of legend among the younger heroes, most having adopted more unconventional methods of traveling through heir assigned territories; such as Nadder jumping and running along the rooftops. To see one of his legacy cars prepped and waiting to run was a bit astonishing for Astrid, nevertheless she climbed into the passenger seat and the two tore out onto the street before heading north.

A couple hours later Hiccup shook a sleeping Astrid awake. They had reached Berk and were now parked outside a house big enough for the both of them, just in case she wanted her space. Grabbing the gear they'd 'borrowed' from The Chief the blonde made her way to the door while Hiccup programmed the auto drive he'd discovered to return the car to the storehouse they'd been at. Grabbing a hidden key from a rock with a divot craved into it, the pair admitted themselves into the house.

"You don't need to worry about anyone coming by here." Hiccup explained when Astrid began checking the rooms for anyone that might be there, "I own this house, legally. I had planned to eventually settle down here when the villain thing had run it's course for me, granted I hadn't planned on the development between us at the time." Astrid visibly relaxed at hearing they'd have no unexpected guests. "And neither side of the supers will find this place either, I have it under an alias. So please make yourself at home, there's a spare room if you aren't comfortable sharing right now." With that Hiccup silently went into the kitchen and began searching in the refrigerator for something to make them for dinner.

Astrid stood at the end of the hallway looking between two doors, one led to the master bedroom which had enough personal touches that she knew Hiccup had stayed there before, the other was a simply furnished guest room with a bed, night stands and a dresser that had a TV sitting atop it. She was conflicted over which one she should choose; on one hand she wanted nothing more than to be curled up in Hiccup's embrace while they slept like she had during like those hotel trips over their secret romance. On the other hand, they had several things that needed to be sorted out and she wasn't sure if he was uncomfortable with sharing a bed with her now. Indecision frustrated her, and after several minutes she left her bag on the floor of the hallway, choosing to figure it out before entering either room. Upon returning to the living room she found a lack a Hiccup and a note.

Gone to get some ingredients, be back shortly.

P.S. there is an encrypted communicator watch on the desk, if you want to let Heather know you're ok

-Hiccup

It was little things like this that made her want to choose the master bedroom. Even when he suspected she had issue with him, he still went and made sure to think of her and what she might need or want, that's was the man she'd fallen for.

Picking up the communicator, she sent a message to Heather with a similar function to texting for stealth missions.

Are you safe to talk? -DN

The response was immediate, an incoming call with Heather's ID. The blonde wasn't surprised, she had no doubt that her friend had made up some story about places they might hide in a situation like this and immediately went off the radar. She smiled slightly as she answered.

"Astrid! Are you ok? What happened? Do you need backup? What happened with Hiccup? Was he actually Night Fury all along?" Did you know? Help me out here!" Her best friend shouted as soon as her holo image popped up. Astrid couldn't help but chuckle.

"Calm down Heath, I'm fine. Yes Hiccup is Night Fury; and of course I didn't know! You really think I could have acted that heartbroken if I did? Anyways, I chose to go with him. We're safe for now and he's out buying groceries believe it or not. If anyone asks you never knew about our relationship, with your relation to Dagur something like this will ruin you." Astrid answered, she knew her friend wanted to show people that villains could in fact be reformed and rejoin society as productive members, a stance that made her unpopular with the hero leadership; but having known about this could destroy her work as it'll no doubt be spun as a hero falling to crime. "Look, I was already planning on choosing Night Fury over hero work before he vanished, that hasn't changed. Despite him knowing the full situation and still staying hidden; Hiccup chose to reveal himself when I was in real danger. Things might be a bit awkward right now, but I know he still cares about me; and I still care about him. So I'm going to follow this through to the end, once things calm down with the heroes we'll come to Berserk and have dinner with you and Dag. And I promise we'll give you both some answers. For now though we need to lie low and wait this out while rebuilding our relationship ok?"

Heather sighed and nodded, she couldn't really argue anything her former partner had said. "Ok, well then you should know: the heroes are searching the entirely of Dragon's Edge for you two, if they don't find you guys then you'll be declared flipped and labeled a villain. I heard Kingstail pressuring The Chief to even publicize your 'illicit relationship' as proof. I'll keep an eye on things at headquarters and if there's anything you need to know I'll find a way to pass it along."

Astrid nodded and bid her friend farewell, as she ended the call she pondered how long it would be before they saw one another in person again. The call did help her breathe a bit easier however, and even gave her the conviction to march back down the hallway and take her things into the master bedroom, placing them firmly on the left side of the bed to claim it as her own.

—————

As soon as the call ended Razorwhip started making her way back to headquarters, despite what she'd promised her friend she knew that feeding them random updates wouldn't be enough.

When she arrived she found The Chief surrounded by his closest confidants still encouraging him to do everything possible to ruin Nadder's career as a hero. An idea had come to Heather on her return trip and while it was admittedly a gamble, it was one that she had a good feeling about.

"We need to get out in front of this Chief!" She could hear Kingstail whisper shouting loud enough to heard by anyone within five feet, "label the girl a traitor and send word to law enforcement to issue a warrant for her arrest. We can't let her make fools of us all!" Several of the others nodded in agreement, the time for her gamble was now or never.

"I wouldn't act so hastily Chief," she spoke drawing the groups attention.

"And why should we even consider your opinion on the matter!?" Kingstail sneered at her. "A villain sympathizer such as yourself already makes us look weak to the public, and now your former partner has been cavorting about with her supposed archenemy and you had no knowledge of it?" The men around her gave growls of agreement, but The Chief looked at her with curiosity.

"Why do you think labeling Deadly Nadder as a traitor would be a hasty decision lass?" He asked, shocking the other men to silence.

"Chief, you can possibly be seriously considering-"

"As the leader of the heroes, it is my duty to examine all avenues before making any major decisions! It would do you well to remember who is in charge here!" The mountain of a man spoke loudly to his second in command. Kingstail wore a fittingly cowed expression on his face as The Chief signaled Heather to continue.

"It's simple sir, something like this makes a large splash in the world. Just like when Treacherous A flipped on you, only now there's a lot more scrutiny on us heroes." Heather explained, knowing the jab about The Chief's once partner would ensure his attention. "If certain parties look into this, it will undoubtedly lead not only to Nadder's relationship with Night Fury, but also that YOU hired his civilian identity to work right under our noses. And if that comes to light sir, we can all kiss our days as heroes goodbye."

Kingstail was red with fury, he was not one that enjoyed being made a fool of; but Heather could tell he knew that no one else had considered the possible blowback on the rest of them as a result of exposing Nadder's relationship with Night Fury. Nevertheless he turned his scowl to their leader before speaking, "Chief, this girl is young; surely you know the right call to make here."

"Aye, that I do." The Chief responded, "The lass is right, Grisely has gained significant support over the past two years about our presence being more likely to draw out dangerous villains then deter crime overall. If we were to announce that one of our brightest heroes can be corrupted, then he will have more than enough support to push his anti-super legislation. If we wish to continue to serve the people then we have no choice but to keep this quiet; find and subdue them! I want them in one piece and we'll get this sorted after, until then: Deadly Nadder is on indefinite leave!"

Heather held her sigh of relief, any indication that she was protecting her friend over the heroes as a whole could cause The Chief to reverse his decision. There would be a time to relishing her buy the pair more time later, for now she needed to convince everyone she had no prior knowledge of the relationship between the two. Eventually she'll be able to contact Astrid again and give her the good news( if she didn't see it on the news herself first) and hopefully pass along more intel she might manage to pick up. Thankfully, Hiccup had managed to disappear right under the heroes noses once before; Heather just hoped that he could do so again with Astrid by his side.

Putting on a demure facade, the dark haired woman approached the other heroes her age, where she could already hear Monstrous Nightmare refusing to believe his 'princess' was involved with the villain and clearly had be coerced into it somehow.

_'I really hope Astrid appreciates what I'm about to put myself through for her'_


	7. 7

The Chief was exhausted, he'd been up all night going over the events of the previous day. It was currently five am and he'd still come up with little more than putting Deadly Nadder on leave while they attempt to track both her and Hiccup down. The thought of the now former co-quartermaster brought a heavy sigh form the man, he was finally trying to make amends between them only to learn the boy had been a villain all along; he just wondered how he missed it. "I should have known, I should've seen the signs." He said to himself, or so he believed. In his tired state he'd not heard the door to his quarters open.

"Well personally, I'm not surprised in the slightest. Anythin' less than 'Iccup revealing himself like he did would go right over yer head." Forge-arm spoke, blunt as ever. It was typically a trait that The Chief was grateful for since he didn't mince words or play politics with him like so many other veteran heroes tended to these days, but right now it was simply irritating.

"Gobber, I've been doing damage control all night. I'm not really in the mood to hear your thoughts on the matter of my somehow missing that Hiccup was the villain known as Night Fury." Chief said tiredly.

"Well that's just too bad, cause frankly I shoulda said this to ye years ago." His old friend said sternly, "The truth is that ye have been a right awful father to Hiccup ever since ye lost Valka." The mention of his late wife's name sent a surge of anger through him, it always had ever since the day he lost her and would continue until he finally brought Drago Bludvist to justice; dead or alive. Gobber seemed to pick up on that fact when he noticed the tightening of his fists. "And this is just an educated guess based on my havin' known ye for nigh thirty years; but you're currently more upset at the mention of her wife's name than you are my calling you an awful father."

All the rage within him was extinguished in a millisecond. The Chief mentally reran his friend's words and realized that he was spot on. The moment Valka's name hade been mentioned nothing else that had been said mattered, but Gobber knew why he was doing this; knew that he just wanted to get justice for not only his wife, but himself and his son as well. He said as much in his defense.

"Listen to me Stoick." Gobber said, using his real name to empathize just how serious this matter was to him. "Iccup never needed the person responsible to be caught or brought to justice or whatever, he needed his father. YOU were the one that needed to avenge Val and ye pushed everything that didn't directly help that goal in some way aside, starting with yer son."

"That's not true, I had people looking out for him his entire life! I had reports on him, always knew what was going on with him until he left for college and broke off all contact, even our best couldn't track him." Stoick protested.

"Oh aye ye had him followed, but that's not the same. Tell me, were ye there when he graduated high school as valedictorian even after being moved up two years ahead?" Gobber asked, Stoick shook his head. "Were you even aware that he'd skip two grades so that he could be challenged academically?" Again he shook his head. "What about when he graduated from college summa cum laude?" Another sake of his head. "Or when he received his engineering degree?" Another shake. "When he bought his own place?"

"ALRIGHT! You've made you point Gobber." Stoick shouted loudly, then a stray thought itched his tired brain. "How exactly were you aware of all that?"

Gobber gave him a smug smirk, "Simple. I WAS there of all those." Stoick's jaw nearly hit the floor. "Iccup came by and told ye himself about his high school graduation, I was in the room at the time, but ye brushed him off for some lead that wouldn't pan out and I went to show the lad some support. When he saw I came and ye didn't, he told me his college plans and kept in touch while he was there; eventually inviting me to his graduation from there as well. I may have also been his inspiration for pursuing engineering and helped him move into his first apartment after getting his degree. It was both the happiest and saddest day of my life when 'Iccup gave me a spare key and told me to visit anytime since I was the closest thing he had to a father, even though he technically still had his."

Stoick didn't know such pain come come from hearing something secondhand. He'd always believed keeping his son at arms length was in the best interest for his own safety, but now he realized that by doing so he didn't even notice when his son increased that distance and also entirely cut Stoick out of his life. In fact it had been Gobber who had suggested hiring Hiccup to help with quartermaster duties, and he also pressed the senior hero to try and reconcile with his son. Their last interaction spoke volumes about the state of their relationship when Stoick invited his son to dinner and he was hung up on without a word.

"All that aside Gobber, it doesn't make much difference now." The larger man sighed, "Hiccup has revealed himself as the villain known as Night Fury and is now in the wind with Deadly Nadder. Our position on villains is firm, hell be tracked down and arrested as any other would be."

His friend released a sad breath as he turned to leave, only stopping at the door to speak over his shoulder. "The lad hid under our noses for months, improved almost every faucet of hour jobs that he was involved with; and only revealed himself when the woman he clearly loves was in danger. If you remember he dealt with the thugs without power, until Hunter-mind threatened to kill Nadder. Had it been ye in his place and Val was being threatened, would ye have done things any different?" He left without waiting for an answer, they both knew it already.

Another long breath left The Chief as he grabbed a bottle of scotch and pour himself a generous helping. Razorwhip's suggestion was the only wiggle room he'd had to give Hiccup an leniency, there was nothing else he could do as a leader of heroes.

The door slid open again as Kingstail barged in. "Chief! We just got a report of your old Thunderdrum driving itself back into the city!" He said in a louder than necessary voice at this early hour.

Stoick rolled his eyes before facing the man, looks like it was going to be another long day.

* * *

Astrid woke to find a pair of arms wrapped around her. It was a feeling she was intimately familiar with even if it wasn't how the pair had fallen asleep the previous evening. Night Fury's arms around her was one of her favorite feelings in the world and she had underestimated just how much she missed it until this moment. She also knew full well what it was that she felt against her thigh as well, but that was a subject for another time when they had ironed out some of the wrinkles still between the two of them. In the moment however, she decided to just bask in the warmth of his body pressed into hers and savor the feeling of what hopefully will become commonplace for them.

Hiccup stirred to wakefulness a few minutes later, unconsciously pulling her closer and considered returning to the sweet embrace of sleep. However his mind snapped into gear and he realized that he was now spooning Astrid despite the two of them agreeing to keep to their own sides of the bed for a bit. He wasn't oblivious to the fact that both had to have gotten into this position while sleeping, but he was trying to be respectful towards her until she was comfortable with him again.

He never thought that removing the masks would cause them this much grief.

The pair were well aware that they were both awake, yet neither made the first move to separate themselves. It was only when the need to use the restroom arose that Astrid untangled herself from Hiccup; and only then did he realize that their hands had been intertwined as well. While she was in the bathroom, Hiccup dragged himself out of bed and put on a shirt before making his way to the kitchen to make breakfast while he scanned news articles and feeds for information on their situation. Not knowing how long they'd have to be under the radar, he'd bought at least two weeks worth of groceries so they would be set with food while they discussed where they went going forward.

Astrid emerged, showered and refreshed by the time Hiccup was finishing a third pancake for her. He'd learned very quickly that of the many skills the blonde possessed, cooking was a less than optimal one. He'd taught her a few basic recipes during their hotel weekends and when following them she could turn out a decent meal, it was when she tried to put a small spin on them that disaster tended to follow. He'd once made a joke about finally defeating her by challenging her to a cook off and making her destroy a part of Dragon's Edge herself; she had not been as amused as he had. Hiccup smiled fondly at the memory; he would like for their relationship to return to that level of teasing and fun, but knew that goal needed work to be put in to rebuild those feelings.

The love was still there for them both, the trust would need to be repaired.

He only had himself to blame. He'd chosen to run off and then hid his identity from her when the time came to be honest with her; part of him wondered if he had told her the truth that night when she broke down in front of him would they be in this mess? He shook his head; course they would, Viggo would have still come looking for him and still found the photo of them kissing.

But they could have been better prepared.

They ate is amicable silence, Astrid occasionally humming as she tasted the food. It was when Hiccup collected their plates and began to wash them that she spoke. "This is we're you stayed after you disappeared isn't it."

It wasn't a question even if the wording suggested it was. Hiccup nodded without looking at her, he could feel her eyes on him. "After that day when Trapper made his surprise debut and kissed you, I was pretty messed up. I told you about how I was awkward as a kid and had issues with my self worth." She hmm'd to acknowledge she remembered, "Well that brought it all rushing back. I felt as if everything between us had one big ploy and that was your way of delivering the fatal blow."

"Hiccup, I'd never do that!" Astrid protested. He finished drying the last plate and returned it to the cupboard were it belonged before turning to face her in earnest.

"Logically I knew that." He explained, "In my head I knew you truly cared and wouldn't do something like that. But the truth of the matter is that affairs of the heart are rarely based in logic. We're a prime example of that as two people on opposing sides of the super spectrum yet somehow still becoming romantically entwined. So seeing this guy swoop in and kiss the woman I love after I hadn't seen her for a month was more painful then your most potent poison spike could ever hope to be."

Astrid opened her mouth to argue, but quickly shut it when realizing he had a point. How many times had she asked herself what was she doing in the early days of their relationship? Her mind had known what she was doing was a terrible idea and by all accounts considered wrong, but her heart kept bringing her back to him. "I guess I can understand what you mean."

Hiccup smirked at that. "I thought you might, you're one of the smarter heroes."

"Former now, probably."

Hiccup's smirk grew a bit at that, "Not exactly." He said as he picked up a tablet and brought up the new article it had alerted him to while cooking, Astrid looked at the title alone before nearly spitting her coffee out.

**_Deadly Nadder takes leave of a sense from hero work._**

"Looks like your friend has bought your reputation some time." Hiccup said before adopting a more serious face. "You can read that in full if you want, but after I have a promise to you I need to keep." Astrid paused her skimming of the article to look him in the eyes with a questioning brow raised.

Hiccup returned to his seat across the table from her. "I promised to answer any and all questions you have." He said never once breaking eye contact so she could see he meant every word, there would be no more secrets from him. "So what would you like to know first?"


End file.
